We’d all waited with bated breath to see what would happen. But nothing did. After a false start, things had ended abruptly. They never really got together.
Cain had gone back to his spartan life and Kelly had tried to move on. There was more to the story than that, though. He’d continued to ignore all females and Kelly had told me he followed her around.
None of it had made sense to me until Mason explained. It had to do with the killings. The guys were all trying to keep their women safe. Even Cain was trying to protect a woman he’d never actually been with.
My heart had broken a little bit for Cain and Kelly. I’d had Mason keep his ear to the ground to see if Cain moved on, but he never did. I had been secretly hoping that things would move in the right direction again.
It was all very romantic and tragic, like a TV show or movie. It was way better than the reality shows I loved to watch, although I felt terrible for everyone involved. I’d been waiting impatiently for this day for a long time.
“And? How was it??”
“Good. Weird. But good.” She sighed. “It’s just . . .”
“What?”
“Cover the baby’s ears.”
I dutifully placed my palms over the soft shells of Nathaniel’s ears. Kelly bit her lip and shook her head. I gave her a look.
“Well? Now you have to tell me!”
“It’s so embarrassing.”
“Give me a break, girl. I’m your sister! You can tell me anything!”
She smiled at me and nodded.
“Okay. I love you, Cass.”
“I love you too, Kellbelle. Now spill!”
“Well, it was going okay. I mean, I was mad at the beginning. He took me to a hotel! A nice one, but still. I told him we had to take it slow.”
I nodded. I could respect that, though I had a hard time believing Cain wouldn’t get exactly what he wanted. He was a huge, powerful man, not to mention he looked like a marble statue. People actually called him Granite, he was so tough. He was very easy on the eyes, if you could get past that whole ‘man of steel who never talked’ thing he had going on.
“Things were getting hot and heavy.”
“Did he pressure you? Push you to go farther than you wanted? I’ll kick his ass if he did!”
“No! That’s just it! He wouldn’t . . .”
“He wouldn’t what?”
“He wouldn’t sleep with me!”
I started to laugh, but Kelly looked miserable, so I pressed my lips together.
“I begged him, Cass. Begged. And not just once, either.” She put her head in her hands. “I’m so embarrassed.”
“What did he say?” I asked, hanging on every word. This was juicer than I expected. I was riveted.
“He said it was as hard for him as it was for me, but he respected my wishes. And that he wanted to start this out right.”
“Start what?”
“Us.” She looked at me, her eyes shining. Uh-oh, she was already in deep. “He said ‘us’.”
Michelle breezed out to the deck with a glass of wine.
“What am I missing?”
We exchanged greetings and kissed each other’s cheeks.
“Where’s Pate?”
“She’s in your guest room, putting down the baby for a nap next to Delaney.”
“Good, because this is not for children’s ears.”
Kelly glared at me, but it was too late. I was laughing my ass off. Sweet Michelle looked back and forth at us, confused. She was so nice. She would never laugh at Kelly the way I was doing.
“What?”
“Kelly had a date with Cain and he wouldn’t fuck her. Said he respected her too much.”
Michelle’s jaw dropped and Kelly’s eyes were like laser beams.
“Nice, Cass.”
“What? You would have told her anyway.”
“True, but still, you didn’t have to say it like that. I would kick you if you weren’t holding that innocent child,” she said sweetly.
We all laughed at that.
Mason popped his head out, his eyes glued to his wife, as usual. The man was whipped and loving every minute of it.
“You want another drink, babe?”
She shook her head.
“No, thank you.”
He nodded and told us dinner would be ready soon. Then he went back inside.
“He wants me to enjoy tonight.”
“Why?”
“I want to try for another one.”
Kelly and I exchanged a worried look.
“Already? I thought the doctor said it was risky.”
She shrugged, but her face was glowing with happiness.
“The second trimester was hard, but the last trimester and the birth were a breeze. I guess it’s always a risk, isn’t it?”
“But . . .”
“Mason loves kids. And he is weirdly into my body when I’m pregnant. Well, he’s like that all the time, but it’s even more when I’m all fat!”
I pretended to be shocked.
“TMI, Michelle!” Then I leaned in. “Connor is the same way. Still, I think you should really think about it. We need you healthy!”
“I have. This is what I want, Cass.”
She put her hand on mine and I bit my lip. If that’s what she wanted, there wasn’t much more I could say. I would definitely be talking to Mason about it though!